White wants voters to have final say

STOCKTON - Former City Councilman Ralph Lee White, who sits on the citizens commission reviewing Stockton's charter, says he has a plan to put more power into the hands of voters.

Roger Phillips

STOCKTON - Former City Councilman Ralph Lee White, who sits on the citizens commission reviewing Stockton's charter, says he has a plan to put more power into the hands of voters.

White says Stockton voters should be the ones to choose the police chief, city attorney, city clerk and city auditor. Under the current charter, the City Council appoints all of those positions but the police chief, who serves at the pleasure of the city manager.

"I'm planning on putting this before the (charter commission), and if the body doesn't want to do it, I'm planning on getting a petition and putting it out there," White said last week. "The government should be of the people, by the people and for the people."

During an interview in the office of his south Stockton home, the 71-year-old White said his proposal is not meant as a criticism of Police Chief Eric Jones, City Attorney John Luebberke or City Clerk Bonnie Paige. White did say he believes the city's auditor should be elected. Stockton's auditing currently is done by an outside consulting firm.

Luebberke did not comment on White's proposal but did confirm that the city's charter would require amending for the idea to become a reality.

The process for amending Stockton's governing document is lengthy. Voters ultimately have to approve changes. It would take a vote of the City Council or a petition drive by White to get the matter onto a ballot, and under state law, the soonest it could go before voters would be 2016.

"I'd be interested in hearing more details as to the proposal to have these positions elected rather than appointed," City Councilman Moses Zapien said. "But I would be wary of injecting politics into these positions by having them elected rather than appointed."

Marcie Bayne, who serves on the charter review commission with White, said the ex-councilman mentioned the idea "one or two times" in the past year, but there was no conversation by panel members on the matter.

"Nobody has taken a position one way or the other on this because it hasn't been on the agenda," Bayne said.

Even if White starts pressing the issue when the charter commission resumes its meetings late next month, it seems almost certain to take a back seat to a matter that seems assured to be discussed in great detail between now and the 2016 election.

That issue is Stockton's method for electing its City Council. Under the current system, council candidates first must compete in a district primary to get on the ballot, then must win a citywide vote to get elected. White is among those who believe voters within a district should have complete say over their representation on the council.

"Your congressmen are by district, your senators are by district, your U.S. and state senators are by district and the Bible is by district, by tribe," White said. "That's the same as it would be here."

As for the proposal to make police chief, city attorney, city clerk and city auditor elected positions, the most radical and unusual change would be in the public-safety position, said Robert Benedetti, a retired University of the Pacific political science professor.

White says county sheriffs are elected, so there is no reason the police chief shouldn't be, too. Benedetti disagrees.

"Sheriff is more of an administrative job," Benedetti said. "Chiefs of police are supposed to run almost a paramilitary outfit with strict discipline, and be experts on crime fighting. ... City managers and chiefs of police are never elected, in my experience. They are democratically controlled by their appointment."

White is not proposing the job of city manager become an elected office. But he predicted if the changes he is proposing to Stockton's charter ultimately are approved, it will start a movement.

"If the city of Stockton put it on the ballot and it passed, I guarantee you a lot of cities throughout the state of California would follow suit," White said.

Contact reporter Roger Phillips at (209) 546-8299 or rphillips@recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/phillipsblog and on Twitter @rphillipsblog.

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